Fire destroys home of five Denton residents

Monday

Nov 26, 2012 at 2:50 PM

A family of five lost their home on South Main Street Extension after a fire destroyed it.

BY DARRICK IGNASIAKThe Dispatch

DENTON | A family of five lost their home on South Main Street Extension on Monday after a fire destroyed it. Firefighters from multiple stations were dispatched about 12:40 p.m. to the home at 2060 S. Main St. Ext. The property is owned by Mike and Robin St. John, long-time volunteers with His Laboring Few Ministries in Thomasville. Their daughter, Elizabeth Nebel, her husband, Sean, and their three children — Micaiah, 8, Zoe, 4, and June, 8 months old — lived in the home at the rear of the property that was a total loss.Another home on the property, in which the St. Johns live, was not damaged in the fire. In addition, the St. Johns lost a barn, a garage and a warehouse. Multiple vehicles, including motorcycles and a couple of classic cars, were also destroyed. The St. Johns estimated they lost $200,000 in property.The warehouse included supplies for His Laboring Few Ministries for the upcoming Christmas season. It also housed food, some of which was contained in freezers, Bibles, blankets and clothes. When asked what the ministry would do without the supplies, Mike St. John said, “God will supply.”“It’s all God’s property, but that’s the stuff we use to feed the homeless and go to the biker events,” he said. “We still have our faith, and we have each other. That’s all that matters at the end of the day. Insurance would have been nice at this point.”Mike St. John said the family did not have insurance for the property, including the home that was destroyed.About five acres of woods on the property also caught fire and burned.“Praise the Lord, I still have my family,” Mike St. John said. “We still have our home. All the things we lost are all material. My daughter and her husband lost their home on the back of the property, but we will squeeze them in.”“We are a very close-knit family,” Robin St. John said. “You can start everything over with our family. We lost 32 years of maybe our material possessions that we worked really hard to scrape and have everything we got, and really in life that’s all that matters. I believe the Lord is protecting our structure of our home so we can all be together.”Robin St. John said firefighters saved a horse that was in the barn, which was totally destroyed, and a dog that was chained up on the property. “We have our pets and our family,” she said.Caleb St. John, a volunteer firefighter with the Healing Springs Volunteer Fire Department, lives with his parents along with two of his sisters, Micah, 14, and Emily, 24, and her daughter, Destiny. He said he was with his mother and sister in Asheboro when he received the word of the fire. The son assisted with putting it out.Caleb St. John said the dry weather caused the fire to spread faster. “Almost as fast as you could walk, it was spreading,” he said.The St. Johns thought the fire may have started in the barn.Davidson County Fire Marshal Brad Needham said it was his understanding that no one was home at the time of the fire. He said no serious injuries were reported, but some firefighters who overheated were being treated by paramedics on the scene.Needham said his office and the N.C. Forest Service were going to work together with the investigation. He said he could not discuss a possible cause of the fire as it was under investigation. Needham said dry conditions, coupled with the structures and vehicles, made it tough for firefighters to battle the fire. The fire was under control about 1:30 p.m.Sheriff David Grice was at the scene and said the property neighbors his house. Grice said that the St. Johns are faithful volunteers for His Laboring Few Ministries.In addition to multiple departments, the Denton Police Department also responded.

Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or at darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com.

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